Missouri has an offer on the table from the SEC, and the SEC is willing to wait for an answer “until the future of the Big 12 is decided,” The Kansas City Star reported Tuesday.

The addition of Missouri, along with Texas A&M from the Big 12, would give the SEC 14 teams. An SEC source confirmed the league’s interest in Missouri to Sporting News on Tuesday and said 14—not 16—is the number the conference is aiming for.

However, the SEC denied the report.

“The SEC has not extended an invitation to any school beyond Texas A&M,” SEC media relations directorCharles Bloom told the St. Louis Post Dispatch.

Missouri’s public position has been, not surprisingly, that it is doing, and will continue to do, its part to keep the Big 12 conference alive. MU chancellor Brady Deaton is the chairman of the Big 12’s Board of Directors and is leading the effort to save the Big 12, a source told Orangebloods.com.

But behind the scenes, Missouri has reportedly secured an enviable insurance plan.

Unlike Oklahoma with its natural “travel partner” Oklahoma State, for example, Missouri is more of a free agent. That versatility has made Missouri appealing and, relatively speaking, sensible in almost any

realignment scenario. There is widespread belief that Missouri’s best interests would be served by a move to the Big Ten, but that conference has held firmer than others with its current membership.

Certainly, Missouri would strengthen the SEC’s geographical reach.

Why would Missouri and the SEC wait to pull the trigger? One reason—perhaps the biggest one—is to avoid being caught up in lawsuits that may be brought by schools from the Big 12 and elsewhere that are left out by the strongest surviving leagues.

PAC-12: NO MORE EXPANSION

The Pac-12 Conference is standing pat for now.

The league's presidents and chancellors voted late Tuesday night to reaffirm their decision to stay at a dozen members. Commissioner Larry Scott says "after careful review we have determined that it is in the best interests of our member institutions, student-athletes and fans to remain a 12-team conference."

Texas, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and Texas Tech were among those considering a potential move from the Big 12. After expanding from the Pac-10 with new members Utah and Colorado last year, members of the new Pac-12 won't give them the chance.

The league already negotiated a landmark 12-year television contract with Fox and ESPN worth about $3 billion. And it appears plenty happy at a dozen.

SOONERS MAY STAY

Oklahoma will give stronger consideration to staying in the Big 12 if “major reforms,” including the ouster of commissioner Dan Beebe, are made, a high-ranking Big 12 source told The Oklahoman.

The source said Beebe has allowed Texas to run roughshod through the league and as a result has alienated other institutions. The source gave direct blame to Beebe for Texas A&M’s decision to bolt to the SEC.

“The perception is, he answers only to one school,” the source told the newspaper. “That does not work.”

Beebe’s most damaging concession was allowing Texas to set its own rules when it came to the Longhorn Network in partnership with ESPN. An agreement was reached with FOX Sports to move a conference game to the LHN. Further, the LHN announced it would show high school highlights. Both these moves have done what could be irreparable harm to the Big 12.

The Big 12 has lost Colorado, Nebraska and now A&M all in the last 15 months.

There is a desire to make the Big 12 work, the source said, but it won’t happen unless Beebe leaves and Texas restructures its LHN. That could mean having a revenue-sharing agreement, something UT would likely have to have no matter where it ended up.

“What if we share a small percentage?” the source asked. “That’s a real strong show of support.”

Regarding Beebe, the source told the newspaper: “The best commissioner’s a consensus builder. We need a consensus-builder commissioner. You take the Big Ten, SEC, the Pac-12, their conference office runs circles around our conference in capability, not to mention bias. This commissioner totally cost us Texas A&M.

WEST VIRGINIA NOT LEAVING

West Virginia officials have told Big East sources that the Mountaineers will not be realigning with the ACC or the SEC, according to a CBSSports.com report.

Both the ACC and SEC are said to have rejected West Virginia, which has long been considered to be in favor of a move.

West Virginia has significant strikes against it as a candidate for realignment with one of the more powerful conferences. For one, it doesn’t offer a substantial television market. For another, it isn’t a member of the Association of American Universities, which means, in a nutshell, that it falls below a certain academic bar.

The school has been passed over for ACC membership before, but a rejection by the SEC has to be seen as a major blow. For now, it appears West Virginia’s only real option is to stand with whichever Big East (and possibly Big 12) schools aren’t swept away by other leagues.

BIG EAST OFFICIALS MEETING

NEW YORK — Big East Commissioner John Marinatto says all the members of his conference are committed to staying together.

The presidents and athletic directors from the Big East football schools met for 3 hours at a Manhattan hotel Tuesday.

Marinatto says each member pledged to remain in the conference and the league is aggressively searching for replacements for Pittsburgh and Syracuse. He says the non-football members also are on board.

PICKENS SUPPORTING BIG 12

Even though the Big 12 looks to be on life support right now, Oklahoma State benefactor T. Boone Pickensdoesn’t believe the conference is dead, he told The Oklahoman. He also thinks Texas A&M’s departure to the SEC can be halted.

“I think the Aggies are sobering up,” Pickens told The Oklahoman.

Pickens says he talked to Aggies leadership a month ago about staying in the Big 12, but the talks seemed pointless. But he says there now appears to be a glimmer of hope. He’s even petitioned Texas Gov. Rick Perry, also a presidential candidate, to get involved and help.

Pickens says his plan for Texas A&M is to tell Texas that the Aggies will stay in the Big 12 if there’s equitable revenue distribution from the Longhorn Network.

Pickens said that OU or Oklahoma State going to the Pac-12 might not be that much of a deal.

“You’ll get to play SC (Southern Cal) at Stillwater every eight years,” Pickens said.

BROWN WANTS TEXAS IN BIG 12

While there is constant speculation about the Big 12 breaking down, Texas coach Mack Brown says he wants the Longhorns to stay with the conference, the Austin American-Statesman reported.

"I want us to stay in the Big 12,'' Brown said. "Texas would love to see the Big 12 stay together. I'd like to be in a regional conference with rivalry games.''

Brown says what he doesn’t like is how the feelings of players and parents are being overlooked, especially when realignment could mean ending up landing in a league not regionally linked.

BACK TO BASKETBALL?

Should the Big East football schools all abandon the league, it could survive by returning to its roost as a basketball-first conference.

The Big East already has seven members that do not play Division I-A football—Villanova, St. John's, Georgetown, Marquette, DePaul, Seton Hall and Providence—and another (Notre Dame) that seeks to remain independent in football.

Should those schools choose to stay together, the league could raid the Atlantic-10 and other conferences for their most-attractive basketball-only schools. Among the likely A-10 targets, according to ESPN, would be Xavier, Dayton, Saint Louis and Saint Joseph's. Butler from the Horizon League and Creighton from the Missouri Valley also could be potential targets of a reformulated Big East.